What Is a Batch Number?
Somewhere on nearly every packet in an Indian shop sits a short code that almost nobody reads.
A batch number is the identification mark a manufacturer prints on a pack so that one production run can be traced later. FSSAI defines it as a lot number, code number or batch number made of numerals, letters or both, by which the food can be traced in manufacture and identified in distribution. Everything made in that run carries the same code.
What the Code Looks Like on a Pack
The labelling rules set no format, and the manufacturer picks its own coding, which is why one pouch reads 0426-C while the next reads L-2226.
What is fixed is the marker in front of it. FSSAI accepts Batch No., B. No., Lot No., L. No., Code, BN, LN or CN, so if you are hunting for the code on a pack, those are the words to look for.
Where Indian Law Requires a Batch Code
Under the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, a batch, code or lot number has to be declared on the label of pre-packaged food. Two carve-outs are worth knowing, because a flat reading of that rule is wrong for both:
- Packages with a surface area of 100 square centimetres or less are exempt from that requirement, along with the ingredient list and several other declarations.
- On e-commerce listings, the code is one of the few label details a seller need not show before the sale, together with the best before, use by, expiry and manufacturing dates.
Medicines run on a separate regime entirely, where Rule 96 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 demands a distinctive batch number by which the details of manufacture of that particular batch are recorded and available for inspection. For the rest of the food label, our guide to FSSAI food labelling rules covers what else has to appear.
Batch Number vs Serial Number
A batch covers a whole production run while a serial number belongs to a single unit, and that difference decides which of them a business needs.
| Aspect | Batch | Serial |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | A whole production run | One individual item |
| Repeats | Same code on every pack | Never repeats |
| Used on | Food, medicine, paint | Phones, appliances |
| In a recall | Pull the run | Trace one unit |
Batch Number Example
A masala unit in Bharuch packs 18,600 pouches over a month and ships them to 140 outlets. In April 2026 a moisture problem spoils one afternoon’s run, stamped B.No. 0426-C, which came to 1,240 pouches.
| Scope | Without batch | With batch |
|---|---|---|
| Packs | 18,600 | 1,240 |
| Cost | Rs.15,62,400 | Rs.1,04,160 |
| Outlets | 140 | 11 |
Note: this is an invented example for illustration only, costed at Rs.84 a pouch. Your own recall scope depends on how far the run travelled.
Same fault, same product, same month. The code is the only thing standing between a bad afternoon and a bad quarter.
What the Code Saves You
Recalls are the dramatic case and also the rarer one. Day to day the code earns its place on expiry, because stock rotates by batch: the run that came in first goes out first, and the write-off at month end shrinks.
It also settles arguments, because when a distributor claims the damaged stock was not theirs, the batch on your goods receipt note says who packed it and when. A column for it on your stock and inventory template costs nothing, and that column is the difference between knowing and guessing.
Track Every Batch Before It Expires
Batch numbers only work if somebody records them, and a notebook at the receiving door is where most of them go to die.
For retail businesses, Petpooja Invoice carries Batch & Expiry Tracking, alongside IMEI & Serial Number Tracking for the goods that need a unit-level code instead.
For restaurants, Petpooja POSS handles the stock side with item-wise auto deduction and low-stock alerts, so what is sitting in the store stays visible.
If your batch column is blank more often than not, that is a cheap gap to close. Have a look at what one month of filled-in batches would tell you.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A batch is shared by everything made in one run, while a serial number belongs to a single unit and is never repeated. Food and medicine use batches; phones and appliances use serials.
On pre-packaged food, yes, under the 2020 labelling regulations. The main exception is a package with a surface area of 100 square centimetres or less, which is exempt from the requirement along with several other declarations.
The manufacturer does. The food labelling regulations prescribe no format, only that a recognisable marker sits in front of the code: Batch No., B. No., Lot No. or BN.
Yes, at the goods receipt stage rather than later. A batch recorded on arrival is what makes expiry rotation and any recall workable, because it ties the pack in front of you to a supplier, a date and a delivery. One reconstructed from memory afterwards ties it to nothing.
